Genetics—it’s a field I had not thought much about prior to my breast cancer diagnosis. I learned the basics in biology class, but that was the extent of it. In hindsight, I wish I had been more curious about my genetic makeup; about the intricate complexity of my DNA. A malignancy alters everything.

In July, 2016, at the ripe old age of 27, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I first noticed a lump in my breast in early June while I was performing a breast self-examination. Initially, I thought it may have been hormonal changes due to my menstrual cycle, but when the lump did not shrink/go away by the beginning of July, I had it examined. At first, my gynecologist thought the lump was a cyst, but he sent me to get a mammogram anyway because of my family history. Within five days of my first visit, and after a mammogram, ultrasound, and biopsy, I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer.

When Hoda found a lump in her breast in 2006 and went in for a biopsy, it was Karen who was by her side. Hoda was going through a rough divorce at the time and had no family nearby, so Karen wanted to be sure Hoda would not go through that process alone.

"Hi sweetie, I have something very important to tell you." Although I was only 8 years old, I could tell that my mother’s kind tone was only a gentle precursor for what she was about to say. She gazed at me with a sincere face and tears in her eyes as she explained to me that she had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She said that our lives would be quite different for a while. My mother, at the time, was 38 years old.

While the incidence of breast cancer increases with age, there are still many womendiagnosed in their prime reproductive years with 11% of women being 45 years of age or younger. One out of three of these women will have early stage cancer that can be successfully treated (70% survival at 10 years from diagnosis). Many of these women will not have started or completed their families, reflecting the growing tendency of women to delay childbearing until after age 30. Since the 1990s, the number of first time mothers older than age 30 has increased to over 21%.